Defence Minister Stephen Smith says a Commission of Inquiry report into allegations of sexual misconduct on HMAS Success "does not make good reading".

The Defence Force has received the first part of the report into alleged misconduct on board the Navy ship between March and May 2009.

The inquiry was told there was a predatory culture on board the ship, with younger female crew members coerced and bullied into having sex during deployments to the Philippines, China, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Mr Smith received a copy of the report at the weekend and says he plans to release as much of it as as he can when Parliament resumes next month.

"To be blunt about it, it doesn't make good reading - either about the suggestions of individual conduct, nor the suggestions of discipline, nor the suggestions of a particular type of culture," he said.

The Chief of the Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, says the report "raises very serious issues", including cultural and institutional concerns.

He says it is going to take a while to consider the report's findings and expects to receive the balance of the report from inquiry president Roger Gyles in mid-2011.

"At my request, the second part of the report will include consideration of how we conduct administrative inquiries within the Australian Defence Force and possible improvements to our inquiry and related processes," he said.

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